Chatterley Whitfield Colliery - Hesketh Shaft winding engine

Image: © Chris Allen Taken: 5 Feb 1984

This was when the site was open as a museum and before its closure. The site still exists in a poor condition and is open for limited visits at Heritage Open Days. These book up very quickly. This shows the horizontal duplex winding engine that serviced the Hesketh Shaft. It was built by Worsley Mesnes Ironworks of Wigan in 1914. The cylinders are 36" x 72" with drop steam (inlet) valves and Corliss exhaust valves. The reversing is by Gooch link motion. The bi-cylindro-conical drum rises from 14' to 20' diameter. I dread to think what condition this will be in by now. I do hope that it can be saved but have my doubts. It's a huge and deteriorated site. This shows the drum and the two eccentrics, one for forward and one for reverse. They are outboard of the crank and driven by a slotted link engaging with an extension of the crank pin (seen at the 4 o'clock position towards bottom right). The slot compensates for any misalignment, for example due to wear in the main bearings. Many engines used a drag link and crank arrangement with proper bearings to achieve the same effect but the slotted link is cheaper and easier to make. At the top is the mechanism operating the calliper brakes on the winding drum. The main bearing top cover shows evidence of a previous repair.

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